Chernobyl

Twenty-one years after the worse nuclear diaster in history, we understand how it happened, but not what the long term effects are. Beyond the 50 or so people who died imediatly, no one can say for sure how many people the accident effected. Wikipedia actually gives a pretty good background on the acident and its aftermath, including the contraversy surrounding its death toll. [link] Whatever the numbers are, they ignore the actuall human suffering and the real effect on the built enviroment. Slate profiles the lives of the survivors, including children with rare birth defects. Another site takes you on a trip through the exclusion zone, and shows what was left behind. [link].